You are not so smart

THE MISCONCEPTION: You are a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is.THE TRUTH: You are as deluded as the rest of us, but thats OK, it keeps you sane.

PrimingTHE MISCONCEPTION: You know when you are being influenced and how it is affecting your behavior.THE TRUTH: You are unaware of the constant nudging you receive from ideas formed in your unconscious mind.

ConfabulationTHE MISCONCEPTION: You know when you are lying to yourself.THE TRUTH: You are often ignorant of your motivations and create fictional narratives to explain your decisions, emotions, and history without realizing it.

Confirmation BiasTHE MISCONCEPTION: Your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis.THE TRUTH: Your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information that confirmed what you believed, while ignoring information that challenged your preconceived notions.

Hindsight BiasTHE MISCONCEPTION: After you learn something new, you remember how you were once ignorant or wrong.THE TRUTH: You often look back on the things youve just learned and assume you knew them or believed them all along.

The Texas Sharpshooter FallacyTHE MISCONCEPTION: You take randomness into account when determining cause and effect.THE TRUTH: You tend to ignore random chance when the results seem meaningful or when you want a random event to have a meaningful cause.

ProcrastinationTHE MISCONCEPTION: You procrastinate because you are lazy and cant manage your time well.THE TRUTH: Procrastination is fueled by weakness in the face of impulse and a failure to think about thinking.

Normalcy BiasTHE MISCONCEPTION: Your fight-or-flight instincts kick in and you panic when disaster strikes.THE TRUTH: You often become abnormally calm and pretend everything is normal in a crisis.

IntrospectionTHE MISCONCEPTION: You know why you like the things you like and feel the way you feel.THE TRUTH: The origin of certain emotional states is unavailable to you, and when pressed to explain them, you will just make something up.

The Availability HeuristicTHE MISCONCEPTION: With the advent of mass media, you understand how the world works based on statistics and facts culled from many examples.THE TRUTH: You are far more likely to believe something is commonplace if you can find just one example of it, and you are far less likely to believe in something youve never seen or heard of before.

The Bystander EffectTHE MISCONCEPTION: When someone is hurt, people rush to their aid.THE TRUTH: The more people who witness a person in distress, the less likely it is that any one person will help.

The Dunning-Kruger EffectTHE MISCONCEPTION: You can predict how well you would perform in any situation.THE TRUTH: You are generally pretty bad at estimating your competence and the difficulty of complex tasks.

ApopheniaTHE MISCONCEPTION: Some coincidences are so miraculous, they must have meaning.THE TRUTH: Coincidences are a routine part of life, even the seemingly miraculous ones. Any meaning applied to them comes from your mind.

Brand LoyaltyTHE MISCONCEPTION: You prefer the things you own over the things you dont because you made rational choices when you bought them.THE TRUTH: You prefer the things you own because you rationalize your past choices to protect your sense of self.

The Argument from AuthorityTHE MISCONCEPTION: You are more concerned with the validity of information than the person delivering it.THE TRUTH: The status and credentials of an individual greatly influence your perception of that individuals message.

The Argument from IgnoranceTHE MISCONCEPTION: When you cant explain something, you focus on what you can prove.THE TRUTH: When you are unsure of something, you are more likely to accept strange explanations.

The Straw Man FallacyTHE MISCONCEPTION: When you argue, you try to stick to the facts.THE TRUTH: In any argument, anger will tempt you to reframe your opponents position.

The Ad Hominem FallacyTHE MISCONCEPTION: If you cant trust someone, you should ignore that persons claims.THE TRUTH: What someone says and why they say it should be judged separately.

The Just-World FallacyTHE MISCONCEPTION: People who are losing at the game of life must have done something to deserve it.THE TRUTH: The beneficiaries of good fortune often do nothing to earn it, and bad people often get away with their actions without consequences.

The Public Goods GameTHE MISCONCEPTION: We could create a system with no regulations where everyone would contribute to the good of society, everyone would benefit, and everyone would be happy.THE TRUTH: Without some form of regulation, slackers and cheaters will crash economic systems because people dont want to feel like suckers.

The Ultimatum GameTHE MISCONCEPTION: You choose to accept or refuse an offer based on logic.THE TRUTH: When it comes to making a deal, you base your decision on your status.

Subjective ValidationTHE MISCONCEPTION: You are skeptical of generalities.THE TRUTH: You are prone to believing vague statements and predictions are true, especially if they are positive and address you personally.

Cult IndoctrinationTHE MISCONCEPTION: You are too smart to join a cult.THE TRUTH: Cults are populated by people just like you.

GroupthinkTHE MISCONCEPTION: Problems are easier to solve when a group of people get together to discuss solutions.THE TRUTH: The desire to reach consensus and avoid confrontation hinders progress.

Supernormal ReleasersTHE MISCONCEPTION: Men who have gender with RealDolls are insane, and women who marry eighty-year-old billionaires are gold diggers.THE TRUTH: The RealDoll and rich old sugar daddies are both supernormal releasers.

The Affect HeuristicTHE MISCONCEPTION: You calculate what is risky or rewarding and always choose to maximize gains while minimizing losses.THE TRUTH: You depend on emotions to tell you if something is good or bad, greatly overestimate rewards, and tend to stick to your first impressions.

Dunbars NumberTHE MISCONCEPTION: There is a Rolodex in your mind with the names and faces of everyone youve ever known.THE TRUTH: You can maintain relationships and keep up with only around 150 people at once.

Selling OutTHE MISCONCEPTION: Both consumerism and capitalism are sustained by corporations and advertising.THE TRUTH: Both consumerism and capitalism are driven by competition among consumers for status.

Self-Serving BiasTHE MISCONCEPTION: You evaluate yourself based on past successes and defeats.THE TRUTH: You excuse your failures and see yourself as more successful, more intelligent, and more skilled than you are.

The Spotlight EffectTHE MISCONCEPTION: When you are around others, you feel as if everyone is noticing every aspect of your appearance and behavior.THE TRUTH: People devote little attention to you unless prompted to.

The Third Person EffectTHE MISCONCEPTION: You believe your opinions and decisions are based on experience and facts, while those who disagree with you are falling for the lies and propaganda of sources you dont trust.THE TRUTH: Everyone believes the people they disagree with are gullible, and everyone thinks they are far less susceptible to persuasion than they truly are.

CatharsisTHE MISCONCEPTION: Venting your anger is an effective way to reduce stress and prevent lashing out at friends and family.THE TRUTH: Venting increases aggressive behavior over time.

The Misinformation EffectTHE MISCONCEPTION: Memories are played back like recordings.THE TRUTH: Memories are constructed anew each time from whatever information is currently available, which makes them highly permeable to influences from the present.

ConformityTHE MISCONCEPTION: You are a strong individual who doesnt conform unless forced to.THE TRUTH: It takes little more than an authority figure or social pressure to get you to obey, because conformity is a survival instinct.

Extinction BurstTHE MISCONCEPTION: If you stop engaging in a bad habit, the habit will gradually diminish until it disappears from your life.THE TRUTH: Any time you quit something cold turkey, your brain will make a last-ditch effort to return you to your habit.

Social LoafingTHE MISCONCEPTION: When you are joined by others in a task, you work harder and become more accomplished.THE TRUTH: Once part of a group, you tend to put in less effort because you know your work will be pooled together with others.

The Illusion of TransparencyTHE MISCONCEPTION: When your emotions run high, people can look at you and tell what you are thinking and feeling.THE TRUTH: Your subjective experience is not observable, and you overestimate how much you telegraph your inner thoughts and emotions.

Learned HelplessnessTHE MISCONCEPTION: If you are in a bad situation, you will do whatever you can do to escape it.THE TRUTH: If you feel like you arent in control of your destiny, you will give up and accept whatever situation you are in.

Embodied CognitionTHE MISCONCEPTION: Your opinions of people and events are based on objective evaluation.THE TRUTH: You translate your physical world into words, and then believe those words.

The Anchoring EffectTHE MISCONCEPTION: You rationally analyze all factors before making a choice or determining value.THE TRUTH: Your first perception lingers in your mind, affecting later perceptions and decisions.

AttentionTHE MISCONCEPTION: You see everything going on before your eyes, taking in all the information like a camera.THE TRUTH: You are aware only of a small amount of the total information your eyes take in, and even less is processed by your conscious mind and remembered.

Self-HandicappingTHE MISCONCEPTION: In all you do, you strive for success.THE TRUTH: You often create conditions for failure ahead of time to protect your ego.

Self-Fulfilling PropheciesTHE MISCONCEPTION: Predictions about your future are subject to forces beyond your control.THE TRUTH: Just believing a future event will happen can cause it to happen if the event depends on human behavior.

The MomentTHE MISCONCEPTION: You are one person, and your happiness is based on being content with your life.THE TRUTH: You are multiple selves, and happiness is based on satisfying all of them.

Consistency BiasTHE MISCONCEPTION: You know how your opinions have changed over time.THE TRUTH: Unless you consciously keep tabs on your progress, you assume the way you feel now is the way you have always felt.

The Representativeness HeuristicTHE MISCONCEPTION: Knowing a persons history makes it easier to determine what sort of person they are.THE TRUTH: You jump to conclusions based on how representative a person seems to be of a preconceived character type.

ExpectationTHE MISCONCEPTION: Wine is a complicated elixir, full of subtle flavors only an expert can truly distinguish, and experienced tasters are impervious to deception.THE TRUTH: Wine experts and consumers can be fooled by altering their expectations.

The Illusion of ControlTHE MISCONCEPTION: You know how much control you have over your surroundings.THE TRUTH: You often believe you have control over outcomes that are either random or are too complex to predict.

The Fundamental Attribution ErrorTHE MISCONCEPTION: Other peoples behavior is the reflection of their personality.THE TRUTH: Other peoples behavior is more the result of the situation than their disposition.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

I agree very much with them as far as I have read.Confabulation, Procrastination are the chapters that did not convince me as well

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

I have not read the chapter, and I do not know what it is about. That line does not make sense to me.

Please do not hurt your feelings.

You are as deluded as the rest of us,but thats OK, it keeps you sane.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

I should be happy and careful too

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

THE MISCONCEPTION: You are a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is.THE TRUTH: You are as deluded as the rest of us, but thats OK, it keeps you sane.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

You asked

Anyway what is the point of his book?

I answered

To prove that we are not so smart as we think ourselves to be

You wrote

are we not listening to a deluded man?

That is a different question, we were talking about the authors point of writing the book 1. Just because he is deluded, there isn't any reason to assume that he had no point of writing a book.2. Look at the Ad Hominem Fallacy. According to it, just because someone's character is not okay isn't a good reason to imagine that whatever he/she says is faulty.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

Theoretically you should not trust anyone. However, you should treat why someone makes a claim and what someone claims differently. If a murderer tells you that the sky is blue would you not trust that?

Here are the facts about the three leading candidates.

Candidate A: Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.He's had two Mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10martinis a day.

Candidate B He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, usedopium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks anoccasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

Well based on that limited set of facts C is the most reliable one to listen to. But with a little more information we would see that C has bad character. All that example proves is that you can not judge a person based on a few facts. But that is not what he said. Bad character means a bad person. He very likely enjoys torment. Listen to him and you will have problems.

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.

I agree with you regarding the satisfaction and importance of actually computing some numbers. I can't tell you how often I see time and money wasted because someone didn't bother to run the numbers.

Re: You are not so smart

Sometimes an argument can get so heated you start calling the other person names. You attack the other person instead of the position that person has taken. It is easier to disagree with someone you see as nasty or ignorant. Calling someone a bigot, or an idiot, or an asshole feels good, but it does not prove you right or that person wrong.This makes sense, but you dont always notice when you are doing it. When you assume someone is incorrect based on who that person is or what group he or she belongs to, you have committed the ad hominem fallacy. Ad hominem is Latin for to the person, which is where you sometimes take the argument when things get out of hand.Imagine you are part of jury in the case of a man who is accused of stealing a car. The prosecutor might bring up the past of the defendant to show hes committed crimes before, or have people from his past claim he is a liar. Once the seed is plantedthis guy is a liar and a thiefit might sway your opinion of the argument at hand. No matter what the man says, somewhere in your head you will doubt it because you dont trust liars. If the guy on trial told you the sky was blue and bread was edible, you would have no problem believing it. The fallacy disappears. Only his argument about something you are still unsure of is affected. If he tells you he didnt steal the car, the lawyers ad hominem attack may cause you to ignore the evidence and commit a logical fallacy.What if a prominent scientist is caught falsifying his research? Do you now see everything that scientist has ever discovered as bunk? What if all the research leading up to the unethical act was properly peer-reviewed and scrutinized? The tendency to label the scientist as a shifty and unprincipled person is hard to shake. The logical misstep is to assume all the scientists work is false because of who he or she is, the label you have placed on this person. You might do the same with a journalist who gets too many facts wrong. You A political attack ad might say something like Dont vote for Susan Smith because she practiced voodoo in college. Just because someone is a practicing voodoo priestess doesnt mean she cant balance a budget. Political opponents also hope you will commit the ad hominem fallacy when they point out who their opponent hangs out with or who they have done business with in the past. Guilt by association is often the ad hominem fallacy at work. If someone hangs out with crooks or crazies, maybe that person is a criminal or a lunatic. A politicians policies and the people he or she barbecues with are separate issues.However, this is not to say that if you see a man in a banana suit playing a flute and carrying a sign that reads THE END IS NEAR! you should race home to kiss your family good-bye. Avoiding the ad hominem fallacy does not mean you have to trust everything you hear equally. Still, you cant be logically certain the banana man is wrong. Maybe the end is near, but you should make up your mind based on the evidence he can bring to the table. If his opinion is based on the chatter of pigeons, you can probably ignore it.The ad hominem fallacy can also work in reverse. You might assume someone is trustworthy because they speak well, or have a respectable job. It is hard to believe an astronaut would put on a diaper and drive across the country to kill the wife of her lover, but it did happen once. The inverse ad hominem fallacy would steer you into delusion if you were on the jury in the astronauts trial and refused to believe the evidence because of your respect for space explorers.You tend to see people as characters and look for consistency in their behavior. This is usually a good thing, as it helps you sort out whom you can trust. Wondering whether or not someone can be trusted and wondering whether or not someone is telling the truth are two different things. Judging character has been such a useful tool for so long in the evolutionary history of human beings it can overshadow your logic. You might be a great judge of character, but you need to be a great judge of evidence to avoid delusion.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

Hm. You cannot make sure whether a person is of good or bad character. To do that, you need a large amount of information.

You got it wrong. You should not 'trust' him. But just because he is claiming something for some bad reason, that may not mean he is claiming something false

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

Another good thing I discovered is the Forer Effect

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym

Re: You are not so smart

You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worried and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself on being an independent thinker and do not accept others statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

Does this sound accurate? Does it describe you?It should. It describes everyone.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''You have made another human being happy. There is no greater accomplishment.' -bobbym